LAHORE: Labour leaders have protested that notwithstanding certain enactments by the government barring dismissal of workers in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic various industrialists have sacked their employees without any let or hindrance.

Muhammad Yaqoob, Qazi Ahmad, Naeem Qureshi, Shaukat Chaudhry, Hanif Ramay and others said particularly the government had promulgated an ordinance banning termination of workers from service or denial of salaries during the contagion but, in fact, a number of textile, garments, glass, paper, electronics and other industries have not only sacked thousands of workers from their jobs but many more were denied payment of their salaries and other dues.

And those who dared to protest the illegality outside the factories were tortured and arrested by police.

They said when a government failed to implement its laws or maintain its writ it lost the right to govern.

They regretted that industrialists had extorted bailout packages worth billions of rupees from the government in the name of lockdown crisis but were not ready to pay to their workers by denying them their lawful wages and other dues.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2020